KUALA LUMPUR: The United Arab Emirates has been punished by the Asian confederation for crowd trouble during its Asian Cup defeat by neighbours Qatar in January.

A disciplinary panel ordered that the UAE must play their next home match in the competition- probably not until 2022 – behind closed doors. The UAE FA was also fined $150,000 for incidents on January 29 at the Mohammed bin Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Eventual champions Qatar defeated hosts UAE 4-0 in the semi-final on January 29. That did not go down well with the fans of the hosts whose country is locked in a political and commercial boycott of Qatar.

Qatar went on to claim a 3-1 win over four-times champions Japan in the final.

In the high tension semi-final Qatar forward Almoez Ali was pelted with footwear as he celebrated his team’s second goal while Qatar’s last two scorers — captain Hassan Al-Haydos and Hamid Ismail — were also the target of missiles.

The AFC said the UAE FA was penalised under a number of articles under its disciplinary code, including liability for spectator conduct (article 65) and organisation of matches (article 64).

A statement said: “The AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has sanctioned the UAE FA with a fine of $150,000 following the incidents that occurred during their Asian Cup semi-final match against Qatar.

“In addition, the UAE FA has also been ordered to play one match without spectators… which will come into effect during their next match played on the territory of the UAE during the AFC Asian Cup 2023 (qualifiers).”

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